Hi all! My name is Pat, this is my first post to this board. I am the proud new owner of a 57 Ford Ranch Wagon, delivered Friday. It is a project, to say the least. I have wanted a 57 for quite a while.
When my father passed away in 2009, he had a 97 Town Car. About a month after he passed, some clown turned left in front of me and totalled it out. It was super low milage. A friend and I pulled the drivetrain out of it, and I started looking for something to put the motor in. I was looking at 58-60 T-birds, then I came across a pic of me and my sister standing in front of the 57 Ford Station Wagon my dad had when I was born. That was it- I would put the motor out of his car in a 57 Wagon like he had.
Needless to say, there are a lot of 57 Ford wagons out there for sale. (Yea, right!) I think I got a good basis for a project tho. The car is from the San Antonio area and most of the rust appears to be surface.
It will be a while before I start on it, I have a couple of other projects to finish up first. But I look forward to interacting with you guys, I have already learned a bunch by just lurking around! Hope to post some pics of it as soon as I learn how! -Pat
Welcome. Good luck and hopefully your rebuild will start soon.
Welcome! I am sure you will have fun. And don't worry, we don't consider you a probie like some other sites, your already a member of an elite group of Ford fans from one particular year! Feel free to ask ANY questions. Not one person here will consider it a dumb one. We were all there once.
Welcome, glad to have you.
Yep...welcome! I seem to be asking this alot lately...Is the car still in Texas? Any questions just ask away...I think now that winter is here alot of guys like me are spending more time on their keyboards waiting for their garage to warm up.
Rich
Welcome,
trust me if they threw people out of this site for dumb questions, I wouldn't have got passed my inter duction!
Thanks,
Tim :unitedstates:
Thanks for the welcome! First off, the car is here now, came from San Antonio. Has a lot of surface rust, but appears surprisingly solid. Needs a liftgate, I found a couple, just gotta figure out how to get one here. Scariest thing on the car is around the upper hinge on the driver door; are there patch panels for this or do I need to find someone parting out a 57 to cut a patch panel out for me? I had to do that on my 65 Chrysler, no patch panels for that one! Shop has heat, so no excuse here for laying up during the winter. What body style is a Ranch Wagon anyways?
My 57 in it's winter home...
I don't think anybody is reproducing any door hinge patch panels. Kind of of unusual to be rusted there in the first place, so I'm guessing any 57 Ford car upper door hinge sheet medal would work. Merry Christmas, Randy
Here's what's rusted. Around the tab coming off the top of the fender. Pass side has a little rust there, but not anything like this...
Man, that's nasty, the lower window post looks rough to. Look in the for sale section and there's a "parts cars in Spokane" Ranch wagon for sale maybe they could help you out. If your handy doing sheet metal fabrication that would be another option..............
LOL...I had asked if you were in Texas...I got a kick out of your response. You said the car was from San Angelo, but was "here now"...I don't know where "here" is.
All wagons were built on the short wheelbase frame...same as Customs. Not sure if that was what you were asking with your question about which body style it was. "Ranch Wagon" was the actual name of the model. Model # is 59A. Your id plate on the drivers door jamb should verify that.
Your definetly gonna need a donor car for that post. I'd recomend stripping the passenger side down in that area before you order the left side just in case you need them both. There is a heavy factory buildup of seam sealer in that area, so what you're seeing may not be all the rot there is.
Donor cars...I have to disagree with what was posted above...Not all '57's are alike at the windshield. Fairlanes are laid back at a different angle, as are retracs. My guess (and it is a guess only) is any custom or wagon should work for a donor. The way I would find out is to look at windshield suppliers and find out which other models are listed WITH yours for a given windshield.
I was just talking about replacing the door hinge area not the whole post. As Rich said, look for custom , wagon or ranchero for a donor.
Looking forward to seeing the progress...best of luck!
Love the reason why you want a 57 'wagon...perfect...build it.
Then...there is this one that looks like a driver that you could mold into your own with most of the work done for pretty reasonable price if the photos are accurate...
http://www.volocars.com/1957-ford-ranch-wagon--c-1309.htm
Happy Holidays!
Rob
Just glanced on Craigslist and there's two wagons up in Palmdale,Ca. a 2-dr ranch wagon(fair shape,all there,and no broken glass!)and a 2-dr delrio wagon(fair shape,all there,most glass broken) wants $4500 each,ph#661-341-0557. Also a 2dr delrio wagon in Corona,Ca.(poor to rough shape for California anyway)ph#951-317-4290.All have pics at Craigslist--California--Inland Empire--1957 Ford, then scroll down. I'd be tempted for the two ln Palmdale but I'm working on my 2-dr Custom and need the $ for it, although you can never have to many--right---right! LOL Hope this helps someone looking. KID PS.The guy that's trying to sell the '58 Blue Courier also on Craigslist lives 2 blocks from me,asking price $10,000 started at $17,000 over 3 yrs. ago--FYI KID
Welcome Aboard and Good Luck with your project. Great reason for a build.
My 57 has similar rust on the windshield gutter, the hinge area is good. When I cut up my brothers ranchero I saved those sections for a donor, didn't get the hinge area. The cowl/gutter is a two layer design, I'm thinking of carefully drilling the spot welds and removing the outer layer. This could take awhile...... Mark
Did not notice my location is not on profile. I am in West Monroe Louisiana. Tried to post pic of my dad's 57,but it is not the correct format to post.
This one will go to redi strip after i get the main metal patches in place. I sent my Challenger there, and it is really great working on one afterwards. Its clean- no rust, no paint, you start with what the factory had back in the day (except for the dents). I plan on clipping the frame, maybe with something from fatman. This will be a true cruiser, not hi-po but comfortable. Surprising how important that is after you hit 50. Anyone around W Monroe LA hit me up- maybe we can meet up for lunch- won't be in the 57 for a while tho. -Pat
Clipping a '57 frame is not really necessary. A '57 will always be limited to a modest 'G' machine at best but the front suppension design is modern enough to ride and handle pretty decent with a few upgrades. There are successful rack and pinion kits, modern power steering box replacements, bigger and better sway bars, several disc brake kits, multiple spring choices, and a bunch of bushing and ball joints upgrades. The frame itself could use some more welding. If you are stuck on a Mustang II type front end, the clip would be the way. If you do the front clip, go all in and get a rear clip and weld the two together. Way cheaper than Art Morrison. Price and effort, I would lean toward keeping it '57. But hot rodding is about your vision and using what you have.
(http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o531/gasman826/Chassis4.jpg)
I agree. Fatman did not make a clip for the '57's for many years. Their reason was any minor improvements over oem a new clip might have was not worth the effort and expense.
Thats a sweet looking frame. I'll have to look into the suspension products available. All for saving money when I can.
Quote from: Carsavior on 2012-12-24 21:08
Here's what's rusted. Around the tab coming off the top of the fender. Pass side has a little rust there, but not anything like this...
My Ranchero had rusted out just there. I just drilled out the spot welds to seperate the panels & rebuilt it from the inner panel outwards, see my buld thread for photos. My body shell had been dipped so all paint had been removed making it easier to see the damage. I don't recommend chemical dipping though, it can cause more problems than it solves if not done properly.